5 Books To Read on Shane Warne

He has been arguably the greatest leg spin bowler in cricket history. And also one of the game’s most controversial characters. He has bowled the ball of the century, revived the art of spin bowling and set cricket records galore. He has been caught cheating on his wife, taking banned drugs and also consorting with bookies. Yes, there are many sides to Shane Keith Warne, and these are five books that we think cover most of them:

1. Shane Warne: Portrait of a Flawed Genius by Simon Wilde

If it is an unbiased look at Warne’s roller coaster career that you seek, then Simon Wilde’s title is by far your best option. Yes, there is some sympathy for Warnie here but at no stage does Wilde let it cloud his judgement. Pretty much the best book on Warne right now.

2. On Warne by Gideon Haigh

We reviewed it recently and called it a labour love. Haigh brings out the rose-tinted glasses when he writes about Warne. Fortunately he does not leave his writing skills behind. The result is some beautiful–if occasionally less than objective–prose about one of cricket’s most colourful characters.

3. Spun Out: The Shane Warne Story by Paul Barry

If Haigh takes a rose-tinted viewed of Warne’s life, Barry comes out with a much a starker version. Detailed and often scathing, Spun Out is one of the few titles out there that dares to look at the Mr Hyde side of Warne. Alas, the fact that he did not cooperate with the author makes the book a bit one-sided, but the fact that it treats more as a man than a God does make it readable.

4. My Autobiography by Shane Warne

All right, so it was written in 2002, when Warne still had a few epic peaks to ascend and an equal number of crevasses to plunge into, but when it comes to a “from the horse’s mouth” book on the leggie legend, this is fairly readable fare. It is not as defensive as we expected it to be and actually has some rather droll humour.

5. My Illustrated Career by Shane Warne

This is one for the coffee table book loving crowd. Mostly a pictorial account of Warne’s career, accompanied by some text from the man himself, the book deserves a place on any cricket lover’s shelf, simply because it is as colourful and dramatic as the man himself. There are a few snide comments too – look out for them.